Mystery, confusion, shady characters, a murder in cold-blood... Peter Matthiessen's Killing Mister Watson is a clever experimentation
with characters' perspectives on the murder of Mr. E.J. Watson, a sly yet reserved sugarcane farmer in the swampy, mosquito-infested Ten Thousand Islands of Florida, October, 1910. The bone-chilling tale of Mr. Watson’s murder is told by several witnesses to the crime, all of which possess different views of Mr. Watson’s past and personality. As
readers will discover, it is difficult to pinpoint the actual murderer or murderers, parallel to today’s witness testimony in criminal situations. Witnesses and their testimonies entail many different views: some view Mr. Watson as a kind and gentle family-man, while others view him as an outlaw with a tumultuous past, killing anyone that dared stand in his way. Watson's murder is a prime example of how rumors and gossip can run awry. Naturally, the townsfolk become suspicious of Mr. Watson when they hear about the murder of Belle Starr, the wife of another famous outlaw. Although no one is positive that Watson
murdered the woman, he is pinned with this murder and is blamed for every other murder that occurrs on the Islands. Author Peter Matthiessen’s refreshing narrative technique truly represents the confusion of solving a complicated murder and not knowing where to begin. Even to the end, Matthiessen keeps his readers guessing at who the real Mr. E.J. Watson really was and why he was murdered.